Briggs provides short-term hire solution for BAS's scientific exploration on the Antarctic continent.

Briggs Equipment is playing a part in the exploration and study of one of the world's most remote and hostile environments.

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), which conducts scientific research on the frozen continent, has signed a contract with Briggs for a short-term hire (STH) Yale forklift to load ships with cargo to send to the Antarctic and unload cargo on their return.

Every year, BAS sends the RSS Ernest Shackleton and RSS James Clark Ross to Antarctica. Putting the cargo together at its headquarters can be a huge task, especially when the ships are due to set sail or return to the UK.

Mick Cliff, BAS stores manager, says about 1,000 T of cargo, which includes everything from toilet rolls to high-tech equipment, are handled each year.

"We already have one 2.5 T truck from Briggs on a five-year contract but during the summer months, when it is winter in Antarctica, we are at our busiest.

"[We] unload equipment and samples that have returned from Antarctica and then load stores and equipment that will be used over the Antarctic summer," he explains.

To help BAS cope with the extra workload, Briggs supplied one of its latest Yale trucks on a four-month STH agreement. The 3 T LPG-powered vehicle is one of the latest additions to Briggs's STH fleet and is less than a year old. It has been fitted with a 5 m (16.4 ft.) mast and 1.3 m (4.3 ft.) long forks.

"We are always working to very strict deadlines as the ships will not wait for us and so reliability is essential, as is an efficient stores operation," Cliff says.